This invention relates to a weather strip for vehicles attached along the door opening of a vehicle body.
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a conventional type of a weather strip is attached along the body 40 of a vehicle. The weather strip includes an attachment base 10 and a hollow seal part 20. The attachment base 10 is U-shaped in section and is attached to a flange provided along the opening of the door 42. The hollow seal part 20 is integrally moulded with the outside wall 11 of the attachment base 10 and makes a resilient contact with the door 40 when the door 40 is closed. The inside of the hollow seal part 20 is divided by the bridge 25. The side walls 11, 12 of the attachment base 10 are provided with protruding lips 15, 15 at inner sides thereof, which slide on the surfaces of the flange 41 when the attachment base 10 is attached to the flange 41. The inner side wall 12 is provided with a tongue-shaped seal lip 16. The inner metal member 17 is embedded in the attachment base 10.
Although the bridge 25 is provided in the hollow seal part 20 of this weather strip, the bridge 25 does not function as it should, since, as shown in FIG. 6, it allows the hollow seal part 20 to entirely deform. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the hollow seal portion 20 is deteriorated in making a follow up performance along the curve of the corner part 60, thus, developing wrinkles in the corner part 60 in particular.
By raising the rigidity of the hollow seal part 20, the seal part 20 is upgraded and it may be able to follow up the curve of the corner part 60 successfully. The rigidity may be raised by, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, providing the bridge 25 between the portion where the door 42 makes a resilient contact with the door 42 and the portion which is the root area of the outer side wall 11 of the attachment base 10.
However, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, since each hollow seal part 20 is designed in a round-shaped figure in order to deform the entire portion thereof, the load makes a curve line as shown in FIG. 9 (a), where the load is generated at the time the door 42 is closed and the hollow seal part 20 makes a resilient contact with the door 42. Therefore, it is predicted in this whether strip according to the prior art that the dosing operation of the door 42 would be deteriorated since the load rapidly increases at the time the door 42 is dosed.
An object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a weather strip which can perform an improved door dosing operation, with a smooth follow up performance along the curve of a corner part.
According to a first aspect of the invention, a weather strip comprises an attachment base (10) and a hollow seal portion (30). The attachment base (10) is U-shaped in section and attached to a flange (41) provided along with the door opening of a vehicle body. The hollow seal portion (30) is integrally moulded with the outer wall (11) of the attachment base (10), and it makes a resilient contact with the door (42) when the door (42) of a vehicle is closed.
The hollow seal portion (30) includes a first wall (31), second wall (32), third wall (33), fourth wall (34) and bridge (35). The first wall (31) protrudes from the outer wall (11) of the attachment base (10) at the area near the bottom wall (13) of the attachment base (10). The second wall (32) is formed longer than the first wall (31) and protrudes from a near end of the outer wall (11). The first wall (31) and the second wall (32) extend from the outer wall (11) in opposite direction.
The third wall (33) is connected with an end of the second wall (32) at its one end, forming a rough rectangular shape with the second wall (32). The fourth wall (34) is connected to another end of the third wall (33) at its one end, and it is connected with an end of the first wall (31) at the other end. The fourth wall (34) is made longer than the other walls (31, 32, 33), and has a bulge curved toward outside of the vehicle.
The bridge (35) spans between the second wall (32) and the fourth wall (34). The hollow seal portion (30) has bending points which bend when the door (42) is closed. The bending points include a connection part (51) formed between the second wall (32) and the third wall (33), a connection part (52) formed between the third wall (33) and the fourth wall (34), and a connection part (53) formed between the first wall (31) and the fourth wall (34).
A weather strip according to a second aspect of the invention is characterized in that the connection part (51) formed between the second wall (32) and the third wall (33) as well as the connection part (52) formed between the third wall (33) and the fourth wall (34) are made thinner than the other parts of the hollow seal portion (30).
A weather strip according to a third aspect of the invention is characterized in that the bridge (35) is curved toward the first wall (31).
A weather strip according to a third aspect of the invention is characterized in that the attachment base (10) comprises an inner metal member (17) embedded therein. The inner metal member (17) extends approximately up to the middle of the second wall (32).
The numerals in parenthesis correspond to elements or matter indicated in the drawings and the preferred embodiment of the invention described thereinafter.
According to the first aspect of the invention, at the time the door is closed making a resilient contact with the hollow seal part, the hollow seal part bends at the following connection parts formed between second wall and the third wall, third wall and the fourth wall, and also the fourth wall and the first wall.
In this hollow seal portion, the bridge is provided between the second wall and the fourth wall, and the fourth wall is bulge curved while having the longest length among the walls. Therefore, the area provided between the portion in the fourth wall where the bridge is connected to and the connection part between the first wall and the fourth wall is largely bulge curved toward outside in comparison with the other areas of the hollow seal portion. At this point, the connection part between the third wall and the fourth wall is pulled toward the outside, which is the direction the fourth wall is projected to. Thus, the connection part between the second wall and the third wall, forming a rectangular shape, does not project toward the outside direction (which is the direction contrary to the direction the fourth wall projects to), though it bends.
Consequently, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), the flat section is generated, where little change is made in the load while a large change is made in the compression. Therefore, the drastic increasing of the load is suppressed and the dosing operation of the door improves.
According to the second aspect of the invention, the hollow seal portion bends more smoothly, since the bending points are made thinner than other parts of the hollow seal portion. The bending points are the connection parts between the second wall and the third wall as well as the third wall and the fourth wall.
According to the third aspect of the invention, the bridge bulge is projectively curved toward the first wall, so that the area made between the portion on the fourth wall where the bridge is connected to and the connection part between the first wall and the fourth wall can be projected further toward the outside.
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the inner metal member embedded in the attachment base is projected to the area close to the middle of the second wall, so, that one end of the bridge connected to the second wall can be firmly fixed. Consequently, the fourth wall connected with another end of the bridge is able to follow up the curve of the corner part smoothly, thus, preventing a development and appearance of wrinkles at the corner part.